Franco Colapinto cat-like reaction prevents huge crash in Australian Grand Prix

The Alpine racer, starting 16th, nearly piled into the back of Liam Lawson's unsighted Racing Bulls as the New ​Zealander struggled to make a clean getaway from ​eighth on the grid.

Thanks to his split-second reaction, Colapinto squeezed his ⁠car between the Racing Bulls and concrete wall to ​continue unscathed down the straight.

The top three finishers, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Charles Leclerc, watched the ​incident in the cool-down room after the race and shouted out in shock.

After finishing the race in 14th, Colapinto said: “I was actually lucky to finish the race, as it ​almost ended at the start with a scary moment ​trying to avoid Lawson who was very slow off the line.

“I almost went straight into the back of him and managed to see him at the last minute.

“I swerved to the right and squeezed between him ​and the pit ​wall. I ⁠think I touched the wall, but thankfully we didn’t suffer any serious damage and ​we got through the first lap unscathed," he explained.

Former racer and 2014 World Endurance Champion, ​Anthony ⁠Davidson, hailed an extraordinary escape.

"Wow. It's like he's got cat-like reactions here," said the Briton on Sky Sports television. "How on ⁠earth ​he avoided the rear wheel and ​the wall is beyond me.

"It's amazing. I could watch that 1,000 ​times over. I'll never get over that," Davidson concluded.

Colapinto's teammate, Pierre Gasly finished tenth (he qualified tenth in the sister Alpine and scored one point for the Renault-owned team who are being powered by Mercedes in the 2026 F1 season. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional reporting by GrandPrix247)